Fastening tool-handles.



B. SHAPLEIGH'.

FASTENING TOOL HANDLES. APPLICATION FYILED Nov.16. 1914.

' 1,199,117. Patentedsepn 26,1916.

BLASD-EL SHAQPLEIGH, OF ST. LOU-IAS, MISSQUB/I.

Y FASTEN'ING Toon-nannLns.

spciacatio of Letters raient. Patented Sept. 26, 1916.

Application led November 16, 1914. Serial No. 872,304.

To all whom 'it may concern Be it known that I, BLAsDEL SHAPLEIGH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of St. Louis and State of Missouri, have inventeda new and useful Improvement in Fastening Tool-Handles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to methods of and devices for fastening handles to tool-heads having eyes therein, such as axes, hammers and the like.

The heads of some tools like aXes Iand hammers, are made with eyes in which wooden handles are inserted. In this type ofy tool the handle is commonly1 held in place in the tool-head by a wedge which is driven into the end of the handle to expand said handle and bind it tightly in the eye of the tool-head. In this type of handle fastening, the wedge is quite liable to work loose and allow the handle to slip out of the tool-head.

My invention has for its objects to make a wedge fastening of the character above described in which the wedge cannot work loose; and to attain certain advantages which will be more fully set forth hereinafter.

Generally stated, the invention consists in fastening tool handles by means of a metal wedge which is driven into the end of the handle and permanently held in place by a connection welded to the tool-head.

In the accompanying drawing which forms part of this specification and in which like reference characters refer to like parts in the several views, Figure 1 is a side elevation of an ax showing a handle fastening e1nbodying the invention applied thereto, the ax-head being partly in section; Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the ax showing the handle fastening applied thereto; Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section through the handle on the line 3 3 in Fig. l; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the wedge which constitutes part of the handle fastening; and Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the retaining member which constitutes part of the handle fastening.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, a fastening device embodying thc invention is shown applied to an aX having a head 1 in which there is the usual eye 2. The handle 3 is inserted in the eye 2 and is held in place by a wedge 4 which is driven into the end of said handle lengthwise of the eye 2. In the outer or exposed end f the wedge 4 is a notch 5. I

The retaining vmember 6 or auxiliary wedge (see Fig. is a wedge-shaped block having vtwo prongs or legs 7. The retaining member G has integral'therewith two thin strips or 'ears S which vproject outwardly at the outer or thicker end of said retaining member. The retaining member '6 is also driven into the end of the handle 3 cross# wise of the eye 2, and substantially at right angles to the wedge 4. The two legs 7 of the retaining member 6 straddle the wedge 4, and the middle portion of said retaining member 6 tits into the notch 5 of said wedge 4. The retaining member 6 is driven into the handle 3 until the ears 8 of said retaining member touch the aX-.head l; and these ears 8 are welded tosaid air-head, preferably electrically, by the process generally known as spot welding. The outer ends of the wedge 4 and the retaining member 6 are preferably iush with the outer edge of the aX-head l, and any humps or protuberances on the axhead which may result from the welding are removed by an emery wheel or other means.

In the construction shownv and hereinbefore described, the retaining member 6 prevents the wedge 4 from working out ofV the handle 3. The retaining member 6 is permanently secured to the ax-head 1 and cannot work loose. In some cases the wedge itself may be welded to the aX-head 1, and such a construction comes within the scope of the invention. The use of a separate retaining member is preferable because it does not hold the wedge 4 in a fixed position relative to the aX-head l, so that if the handle should start to pull out, the wedge may move with it and keep the handle tight until it is pulled completely out.

lVhile for the purpose of illustration, the invention has been shown as applied to a handle fastening for axes, the same construction can be used for fastening a handle to the head of any tool in which the handle is inserted and secured in an eye in said head. The particular construction shown and hereinbefore described may be considerably changed without departing from the invention, and I do not wish to be restricted zto the details of this construction nor to the method of applying it.

What I claim as my invention is l 1. A handle fastening for tool-heads having eyes with handles arranged therein, said fastening comprising a wedge driven into the handle and movable with relation thereto, and a retaining member` secured to the head of said tool across the eye thereof outside of said wedge, said retaining member preventing movement of the wedge Vcutward through the eye while permitting driving of the handle farther through the eye or driving of the wedge farther into the handle.

2. A tool head having a tapered eye, a khandlein said eye, an expanding wedge in said handle movable inward with relation thereto toward the smc ll end of said eye, and a locking wedge securedV to the head preventing movement of said expanding wedge outward, saidV wedges permitting driving ofthe handle farther through the eye and driving of the expanding wedge farther into the handle.

v3. The process of fastening a handle in the eye of a tool head which comprises inserting the handle Vin the desired position in the eye, driving a wedge through the open end of the eye into theend of the handle in the eye, arranging a fastening member crosswise thereof` to hold said wedge from working `loose and securing said fasten ing member to the tool head.

4. The process of fastening a handle in;V

the eye of a tool head. which comprises inserting the handle in the desired position in the eye, driving an expanding wedge through the open end of the eye'intoI the end ofthe handle in the eye, driving a fas,- tening wedge through the open end of the eye into the handle against the expanding wedge and crosswise thereof and securing said `fastening wedge to the tool head.

5. A rtool head having a tapered eye open at both ends, a handle in said eye, an eX- panding wedge iny said Vhandle movable therewith and movable, with relation thereto in the direction of the small end of the eye, and a narrow7 retaining member secured tol the head of said tool across the eye outside of said wedge to preventits withdrawal,y said retaining member permitting movement of the expanding wedge toward the small end, of the eye.

Signed `at St. Louis, day of November, 191.4.`

BLASDEL SHAPLEIGH.

Missouri, this 13thlVitnesses NEIL D. PRESTON, MARTHA A. SHELTON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve Vcents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,"4 Washington, D. C. 

